When the National Association of Corporate Directors created its certification program last year, they wanted it to include the best resources and information for members seeking the designation. To help facilitate this, the organization recently launched the NACD Education Network, which allows individuals to earn credits toward their certification through participation in top-tier university courses.

“They’re some of the leading universities in the county, and they’ve been very active in director education,” said NACD CEO Peter R. Gleason. “Our mission was to make sure we really looked at where [people] were going in addition to NACD.”

Some of those places that members turn to for education are the three universities initially included in the NACD Education Network: Stanford University Rock Center for Corporate Governance Directors’ College, Columbia Business School Executive Education’s Corporate Governance Program, and Drexel’s Gupta Governance Institute’s Directors Dialogue.

“Our mission is to make boards better boards and make directors better directors,” Gleason said. “There are great programs being offered at these schools that can add to that mission and further that mission. We looked at it as a great opportunity to work together.”

The NACD Directorship Certification helps directors stay “on the leading edge of governance issues,” and requires recertification every two years through 32 hours of continuous learning at recognized institutions.

Gleason said schools in the network have received high marks from members in the past, who often recommend faculty or topics they’ve seen at these universities for NACD programming. Including them in the network was a win-win for both the association and the universities. “It’s a chance for us to promote their programs, and it’s a chance for them to promote our certification,” Gleason said.

While the network is small now, NACD is looking to expand it. “We are looking at what programs are out there and can be part of this network,” Gleason said. “We’re in discussions with others now, not just here, but around the world. This is a great opportunity to expose directors across the globe to our certification program.”

Even with just the three universities involved, the education network has been well-received by members. “The response has been very positive,” Gleason said. “Now that they can get credit for that, those sessions they were already interested in taking, the response has been very positive.”

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